MarineMax expands financing capacity, expects growth

Clearwater, Fla. – MarineMax Inc. has expanded its financing facility to provide for borrowings of up to $235 million. The expanded facility has a three-year term, expiring in August 2017, and it has two, one-year options to renew, subject to lender approval.

Borrowings under the facility are secured primarily by the company’s inventory, not including real estate. The facility is led by GE Capital Commercial Distribution Finance and also includes M&T Bank and Bank of the West. The facility contemplates that other lenders may be added by MarineMax.

“We are adding borrowing capacity as a prudent measure in anticipation for the continued recovery of our industry and expected strong demand for new models from certain key manufacturers,” said Michael H. McLamb, executive VP, CFO and secretary of MarineMax Inc. “The increased financial flexibility and liquidity will allow us to capitalize on additional growth opportunities as they emerge.”

Keurig Green Mountain and The Coca-Cola Company expand agreement

Keurig Green Mountain and The Coca Cola Company have expanded their agreement to include select beverages from Coca Cola’s still brands portfolio in the Keurig hot brewing system in the United States and Canada. As such, Honest Tea will be the first brand from The Coca Cola Company available in K-Cup packs.

In February 2014, the companies signed a 10-year agreement to collaborate on the development and introduction of The Coca Cola Company's global brand portfolio for use in Keurig’s forthcoming Keurig Cold at-home beverage system, available in Keurig’s fiscal year 2015. As part of that agreement Coca-Cola acquired a 10% minority equity position in Keurig and subsequently announced its intention to increase its stake up to 16%.

“As we began to collaborate with The Coca Cola Company on the development of their brands for our Keurig Cold system, the opportunity to incorporate certain Coca-Cola brands, like Honest Tea, into our Brew Over Ice selections for our Keurig hot brewing system became an exciting possibility,” said Mark Wood, SVP, global hot systems at Keurig. “Whether hot or cold, adding great brands like Honest Tea to the Keurig system is a part of our ongoing mission to provide consumers with unparalleled choice and variety.”

The new Honest Tea K-Cup packs feature two products initially, unsweetened Just Green and Just Black iced teas. The new beverages will join Keurig’s current Brew Over Ice collection, a line specially crafted to brew hot beverages over ice with the Keurig hot brewing system.

“There is growing consumer demand for beverage variety and functionality,” said Deryck Van Rensburg, president, Coca Cola/Keurig Ventures. “Offering people more of the brands they love in the popular Keurig hot brewing system is a natural extension of our strategic partnership while development of our sparkling and still brands for the innovative Keurig Cold at-home system continues.”

The Honest Tea K-Cup packs, like all of the brand’s teas, will be organic certified using Fair Trade Certified tea. Founded in 1998, Honest Tea touts itself as the first brand to launch organic bottled tea and fair trade bottled tea.

“Keurig Green Mountain and Honest Tea share a longstanding commitment to organics and fair trade,” said Seth Goldman, Honest Tea co-founder and CEO. “We’re excited to make our tea available in this new convenient format.”

Former MapQuest exec to serve as SVP of engineering at Filip Technologies

Filip Technologies, developer of FiLIP, a wearable phone and locator for kids, has appointed former MapQuest executive Patrick McDevitt as SVP of engineering.

McDevitt will be in charge of the overall direction and growth of the company’s software engineering team as the company develops the next generation of wearable products for kids. He will report directly to Jonathan Peachey, CEO of Filip Technologies.

“Pat comes to Filip with a tremendous depth of expertise in location-based services and mobile,” said Peachey. “His experience building and leading engineering teams for some of the technology industry’s most successful companies will be invaluable to us as we continue to grow our team, build on our software platform and add new products and services.”

McDevitt lead MapQuest’s expansion into mobile native apps and location-based advertising as VP of engineering. He joined MapQuest from TomTom, where he formed and managed a team focused on community mapping, incorporating GPS data and customer feedback from more than 40 million consumer devices. Before TomTom, he held senior engineering positions at Tele Atlas where he led the company’s efforts to develop a global digital map. Most recently, McDevitt was SVP of engineering at AOL where he spearheaded the integration of location-based services into the company’s advertising and brand offerings.

McDevitt has also served on the Patent Review Committees for both AOL and TomTom and has co-authored several pending patents on location-based advertising, digital mapping and geofencing.

“As the industry-leading wearable phone for kids, FiLIP is already changing the way that families communicate,” said McDevitt. “Its unique combination of ‘wearable’, ‘location’ and ‘mobile’ technologies presents an extraordinary opportunity to innovate, and I look forward to contributing to the company’s growth.”

Ahold Delhaize on Thursday named Kevin Holt CEO of its newly minted Ahold Delhaize U.S.A division, which will serve as the parent company for all of Ahold Delhaize’s US companies, including its local brands, Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Giant, Hannaford, Giant/Martin’s and Peapod, as well as Retail Business Services, the US shared services company providing support to the brands. Read more

Walgreens is moving on from its “corner of happy and healthy” tag line to new branding that emphasizes the company’s 116-year heritage of serving customers and also targets a younger demographic. Read more

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